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This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2007.132373v1 99/2/294    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Davis, E. M. Articles by Horwitz, R. I. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Davis, E. M. Articles by Horwitz, R. I. Related Collections Obesity, Overweight, Underweight Pregnancy Other Maternal and Infant Health African Americans/Blacks Hispanics/Latinos Women's Health

Esa M. Davis, MD, MPH, Stephen J. Zyzanski, PhD, Christine M. Olson, PhD, RD, Kurt C. Stange, MD, PhD and Ralph I. Horwitz, MD

Esa M. Davis, Stephen J. Zyzanski, and Kurt C. Stange are with the Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, and the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH. Stephen J. Zyzanski and Kurt C. Stange are also with the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland. Christine M. Olson is with the Department of Nutrition, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Ralph I. Horwitz is with the Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA.

Correspondence: Reprint requests should be sent to Esa Davis, Department of Family Medicine—Research Division, Case Western Reserve University, 11001 Cedar Ave, Suite 306, Cleveland, OH 44106 (e-mail: esa.davis{at}case.edu).

Objectives. We investigated the relationship between childbirth and 5-year incidence of obesity.

Methods. We performed a prospective analysis of data on 2923 nonobese, nonpregnant women aged 14 to 22 years from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Cohort, which was followed from 1980 to 1990. We used multivariable logistic regression analyses to determine the adjusted relative risk of obesity for mothers 5 years after childbirth compared with women who did not have children.

Results. The 5-year incidence of obesity was 11.3 per 100 parous women, compared with 4.5 per 100 nulliparous women (relative risk [RR] = 3.5; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.4, 4.9; P < .001). The 5-year incidence of obesity was 8.6 for primiparous women (RR = 2.8; 95% CI = 1.5, 5.0) and 12.2 for multiparous women (RR = 3.8; 95% CI = 2.6, 5.6). Among parous women, White women had the lowest obesity incidence (9.1 per 100 vs 15.1 per 100 for African Americans and 12.5 per 100 for Hispanics).

Conclusions. Parous women have a higher incidence of obesity than do nulliparous women, and minority women have a higher incidence of parity-related obesity than do White women. Thus, efforts to reduce obesity should target postpartum women and minority women who give birth.